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Non-Compete
Agreements Non-Enforceable In TN

Contracts
that require a physician to stop practicing in a given area
after leaving a practice aren't enforceable in the state
of Tennessee, the Supreme Court of Tennessee ruled in Murfreesboro
Medical Clinic v. David Udom (02-5739CV).

The
Tennessee legislature specifically carved out protections
for non-compete agreements involving faculty practice groups
and hospital-employed physicians, but the legislature didn't
protect all non-compete deals. And given the health issues
involved, the court found non-compete agreements are "inimical
public policy and non-enforceable."

In other
news:

Some
39 Senators wrote to President Bush asking him to extend
the $300 million chemotherapy demonstration project through
2006. The project, which pays oncologists $130 per day
to report on patients' nausea, pain and fatigue, is scheduled
to end on Jan. 1.

CMS also announced it would cover a combination of aprepitant,
a 5-HT3 antagonist and dexametahsone for chemotherapy-induced
nausea and vomiting. Medicare will cover this three-drug
combo only if the patient is receiving one of these chemotherapy
agents: Carmustine; Cisplatin; Cyclophosphamide; Dacarbazine;
Mechlorethamine; Streptozocin; Doxorubicin; Epirubicin;
or Lomustine. Use J8501 to bill Medicare for aprepitant.

CMS accidentally added three discontinued CPT codes to
the list of covered codes in the ambulatory surgery center
setting, CMS said in the June 24 Federal Register. CMS
removed deleted codes 50559, 50959 and 50978 from the
ASC-covered list. And CMS added CPT code 55873 (cryosurgical
ablation of the prostate) to the list, assigning it the
highest payment category. But CMS said it couldn't create
a new, higher payment category for the code as physicians
requested.

CMS also corrected errors in its Medicare appeals rule,
saying that providing extra evidence after an appeal is
submitted may extend the time frame by up to 14 days,
but the extension may not necessarily be the full 14 days.
Also, requesting an in-person hearing with an administrative
law judge doesn't automatically cancel the 90-day timeframe
to respond, but if the ALJ grants the request, the 90-day
timeframe is considered waived, according to the June
30 Federal Register.